NASA Procedural Requirements

NPR 8079.1 Effective Date: June 27, 2023 Expiration Date: June 27, 2028

Subject: NASA Spacecraft Conjunction Analysis and Collision Avoidance for Space Environment Protection

Responsible Office: Office of the Chief Engineer

Preface

P.1 Purpose

This NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) document establishes minimum collision avoidance requirements and associated operational protocols for NASA space flight programs, projects, and spacecraft to protect the space environment by reducing the risk of collision to an acceptable level.

P.2 Applicability

a. This directive is applicable to NASA Headquarters and NASA Centers, including Component Facilities and Technical and Service Support Centers. This directive applies to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC), other contractors, recipients of grants or cooperative agreements, and parties to other agreements only to the extent specified or referenced in the applicable contract, grant, or agreement.

b. The requirements of this directive apply to NASA programs and projects with spacecraft that are owned, developed, or operated by NASA. For such programs and projects that already exist, the requirements of this directive apply to their current and future life-cycle phases as determined by the responsible Mission Directorate Associate Administrator (MDAA) and concurred with by the NASA Chief Engineer (or as delegated). For other spacecraft, MDAAs share the intent of this directive and associated best practices and seek to understand the partners' operational procedures for conjunction risk assessment.

c. In this directive, all mandatory actions (i.e., requirements) are denoted by statements containing the term "shall." The term "may" denotes a discretionary privilege or permission, "can" denotes statements of possibility or capability, "should" denotes a good practice that is recommended but not required, "will" denotes expected outcome, and "are" or "is" denotes descriptive material.

d. In this directive, all document citations are assumed to be the latest version unless otherwise noted.

P.3 Authority

a. The National Aeronautics and Space Act, 51 United States Code (U.S.C.) § 20113 (a).

b. NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 1000.0, NASA Governance and Strategic Management Handbook.

c. NPD 7120.4, NASA Engineering and Program/Project Management Policy.

P.4 Applicable Documents and Forms

a. NPR 7120.5, NASA Space Flight Program and Project Management Requirements.

b. NPR 7120.8, NASA Research and Technology Program and Project Management Requirements.

P.5 Measurement/Verification

Compliance with the requirements contained within this directive is verified through approval of the Appendix C Compliance Matrix. Compliance may also be verified through life-cycle reviews and other assessments.

P.6 Cancellation

NASA Interim Directive (NID) 7120.132, Collision Avoidance for Space Environment Protection dated November 19, 2020.

DISTRIBUTION:
NODIS

This document does not bind the public, except as authorized by law or as incorporated into a contract. This document is uncontrolled when printed. Check the NASA Online Directives Information System (NODIS) Library to verify that this is the correct version before use: https://nodis3.gsfc.nasa.gov.